KRRP Interview with Andy Towne on “Love/Gender/Family” Censorship in Litchfield, NH
Interview with Andy Towne
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Kids’ Right to Read Opposes “Love/Gender/Family” Censorship in Litchfield, NH
On June 18, the Litchfield District School Board in New Hampshire decided to remove four short stories from the “Love/Gender/Family” unit of an upper-class elective English class at Campbell High School. The stories, including "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway, "Survivor Type" by Stephen King, "The Crack Cocaine Diet" by Laura Lippman, and "I Like Guys" by David Sedaris.
NCAC’s Student Advocates for Speech leader Julia Garnett receives White House honor
NEW YORK - In celebration of International Day of the Girl, First Lady Jill Biden will honor Julia Garnett, a 17-year-old Student Advocates for Speech (SAS) leader from Hendersonville, Tennessee. Garnett is one of 15 young women selected by the White House Gender Policy Council who lead change and shape a brighter future in their communities across the United [...]
NCAC urges Iowa Department of Education to issue Senate File 496 guidance to prevent confusion among school districts
The National Coalition Against Censorship has written to urge the Iowa Department of Education to issue guidance regarding Senate File 496, which restricts instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation, and removes school library books with sexual content. We are concerned that the vague law is creating confusion in Iowa school districts and will harm students because it encourages schools [...]
NCAC to Celebrate Free Speech Defenders Juno Dawson, Coco Fusco, John Sargent, Madeline Scotti, Nadine Strossen
NEW YORK— Every year, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) honors leaders in the fight for free speech defenders during its benefit, LET ME SPEAK: a Celebration & Benefit of Free Speech & Its Defenders. This year’s event, presented by Macmillan Publishers, will highlight the contributions of Juno Dawson, Coco Fusco, John Sargent, Madeline Scotti, and Nadine Strossen. Critically acclaimed [...]
Hernando County, Florida school board removes “Marvin Redpost: Is He a Girl?”
The National Coalition Against Censorship recently wrote a letter to the School Board of Hernando County School District in Brooksville, Florida, regarding their choice to remove Louis Sachar's "Marvin Redpost: Is He a Girl?" from elementary school libraries. This decision was made despite a review committee's recommendation to keep the book. The board's action appears to be based on [...]
Mansfield, Texas, School District proposed review policy remains problematic
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has contacted the school board in Mansfield, Texas, regarding a proposed library materials policy. NCAC shared our concern that the policy provision banning the discussion of "gender fluidity" violates the principles set forth by the Supreme Court in Board of Education v. Pico. Furthermore, NCAC is also concerned with the policy's blanket ban on [...]
Supporters Rally Around “It’s Perfectly Normal”
Children’s book author Robie H Harris’ and artist Michael Emberley’s million+ copy bestselling book, It’s Perfectly Normal, A Book About Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, Gender, and Sexual Health, has been continuously challenged and/or banned since it was first published in 1994 and continues to be challenged even in recent days. In November of 1994, NCAC supported the book [...]
Middleborough, MA, student forbidden to wear shirt expressing political views
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has written a letter to the Superintendent of Middleborough Public Schools in Middleborough, Massachusetts, in response to a report that school officials in your district forbid a student from wearing a shirt that said: "there are only two genders." As the Supreme Court ruled in its landmark decision in Tinker v. Des Moines [...]
Claudia Johnson shares thoughts on the right to read
Claudia Johnson is a nationally recognized advocate for free speech and social justice, winner of the inaugural PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award, for her “extraordinary efforts to restore banned literary classics to Florida classrooms”—and author of Stifled Laughter: One Woman's Story About Fighting Censorship, nominated for the Pulitzer Prize when it was first published in 1994. Fulcrum Publishing has just released a new edition [...]
West Texas A&M University president bans student drag performances
National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has delivered a letter to the Board of Regents at Texas A&M University System to express its concern regarding West Texas A&M President Walter Wendler's decisions to cancel A Fool’s Drag Race and place a ban on all future campus drag performances. According to Wendler, all drag shows are an assault on human dignity [...]
NCAC protests viewpoint discrimination in Greenville County Public Libraries proposed policy | Updated
Updated 3/31/2023 – The Greenville County Library board passes its amended collections policy removing language targeting gender. On 3/24/2023 – The National Coalition Against Censorship has sent a letter to the Greenville County Library System in Greenville, South Carolina, expressing our concerns with a proposed change to their library collection policy which would limit access to children's [...]
Free speech groups condemn suppression of LGBTQ expression in Florida
NEW YORK - As organizations dedicated to the freedom of thought, inquiry, and speech, we are deeply alarmed by Florida public officials’ attempts to suppress LGBTQ expression. Legislative and administrative acts of intimidation aimed at deterring access to LGBTQ culture are a serious attack on First Amendment principles. Florida’s hostility to LGBTQ communities stands out amid an onslaught of [...]
NCAC condemns unconstitutional censorship legislation in North Dakota
NEW YORK, January 30, 2023 - The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), an alliance of 59 national literary, artistic, religious, educational, professional, labor, and civil liberties groups, is alarmed by the introduction of two bills in the North Dakota legislature that would make it a crime for booksellers to display a wide range of books and ban libraries from [...]
National Coalition Against Censorship to Celebrate Free Speech Defenders
NEW YORK— Each year National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), an alliance of 59 of the nation’s leading education and publishing organizations, recognizes the notable contributions of Free Speech Defenders whose activism has had a profound impact on the protection of First Amendment rights in schools, libraries, and publishing. Tony Award Winner Daniel J. Watts is the host of the star-studded event [...]
Tulsa Public School Officials Evade Adjudication of Challenged Books
Tulsa Public Schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma, have removed Gender Queer and Flamer from the district's school libraries. The books were removed pending a formal review in alignment with the district's review policy. However, recent media quotes from school officials suggest that the books will not be formally reviewed anytime soon and will remain absent from bookshelves. The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) delivered [...]
Banned Books Week Inquiry Centers: Middle School Teaching Guide
Return to overview of Banned Books Week Inquiry Centers Introduction Efforts to remove books from schools are taking place across the country. Curriculum decisions are subjected to polarized politics at the same time as educators are struggling to make up ground lost by the pandemic classroom interruption. Today’s censorship crisis is manifesting in curriculum challenges, book bans, and new [...]
Banned Books Week Inquiry Centers: High School Teaching Guide
Return to overview of Banned Books Week Inquiry Centers Introduction This lesson series is for high school teachers or librarians to raise awareness about the current debate surrounding an increase in book challenges, removals and bans during Banned Books Week. The centers lessons could be conducted formally in a classroom or informally laid out in a library for students [...]
Free Speech Defender Award, Author
George M. Johnson George M. Johnson is a writer and activist based in New York. They have written on race, gender, sex, and culture for Essence, the Advocate, BuzzFeed News, Teen Vogue, and more than forty other national publications. George has appeared on BuzzFeed’s AM2DM as well as on MSNBC. All Boys Aren’t Blue is their debut and was an [...]
Lyman Allyn Art Museum in Connecticut Removes Work Deemed “Inappropriate”
The Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, Connecticut, removed a work from an exhibition because it was considered by the museum to be “inappropriate for children.”